Suicide hours after rape

TT, Malda, Oct. 25: A homemaker allegedly raped last evening by a neighbour set herself ablaze hours later, her family said.

The 19-year-old succumbed to burns this morning.

The family has blamed Titon Mondal for the alleged rape. Mondal, an unemployed youth who stayed in the same Malda village, is untraceable.

The girl had got married two months back to a labourer who stays in Delhi. "Her husband is a construction worker and stays in Delhi. That is why she came at her father's place on October 21," a police source said.

Yesterday, her parents had gone to Gazole, also in Malda district, to a relative's place.

"She was alone at home. Before her marriage, Titon used to tease her. The youth entered her house and raped her in the evening," a police officer said.

When the girl's parents returned around 11pm, they found her crying. When she told them about the alleged torture, "her family searched for the youth but could not find him. They decided to file a complaint with us this morning. But later at night, she set herself on fire," a police officer said. She died in Malda Medical College and Hospital around 1pm today.